Don’t let holiday stress compound college application stress

College admissions stress is compounded by holiday stress. With practice, you can make choices that keep things manageable for students and turn stress into excitement. Here's some perspective from someone who has been there.

Parents of college-bound students, keep in mind that your teenager did not intend to create a mad dash to a January first deadline. This may well be the first time that your teenagert was not able to whip off some semblance of a paper or project overnight. Grade inflation may have reinforced the illusion that they really could produce Grade-A work in one big gulp.

The stress you can dial down is family expectations over the holidays. If your high school senior is applying to college, they may not have the time or the mental bandwidth to spend hours and hours with the family. You can model the importance of setting priorities by assuring your teenager that it will be alright if they come in to say hello to their extended family--and then return to their work.

Do not make your student feel that they are being "sent to their room" as punishment. Support the idea that sometimes grown-ups have to make choices. Excuse your student to the rest of the family by saying in a neutral tone that your student has important work to do to finish their college applications. Smile calmly and return to socializing with the others.

There will always be times when we have to juggle obligations. You can help your student start practicing now.

The transcript is below.

I just heard somebody ask somebody else, “How’s your headache?”

I suppose that this is all a bit much for some people, but for us native New Yorkers, this is a sort of usual amount of hustle and bustle. I find it just wonderful.